Broken Pasts
by Axl Gear
Summary: Chapter 4 is finally up! The P.W.A.B. attack, and Axl and Baiken reminisce about their lives.
1. A Mutual Understanding

Hi, it's me, Axl Gear. Some of you may have heard of me, and some have not, but you can tell I'm an Axl Low fan. I have finally decided to write a fanfic about my favorite character. This is also the first and only Axl/Baiken story that will ever be posted. Anyway, if people like it and give good reviews, I'll post another Axl story, and believe me, he is one of the most underrated characters in the game (except for maybe Poetmkin). Now let's get on with the fic already.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Guilty Gear or any of its characters, but does Mr. Ishiwatari realize how many Rock stars could sue him? He he.  
  
Broken Pasts  
  
In the bustling city of Beijing, in a sullen, dark part of the city, a lone, pink haired samurai sat at a bar, contemplating on her past and what had happened that fateful day. Some of her memories were cloudy, some as clear as spring water, and others as black as the void. One thing she did remember was that man.  
He had stood there as the Gears had destroyed her home and slaughtered her friends and family. She held the corpse of her mother as the gears came closing in, and she was sure that she would die after losing her arm and eye as well as her parents, but up to that point, it all went black. The last thing she had remembered after that was being in a deserted cottage in the woods, her wounds already treated. All she could think about was having revenge on the gears that had ruined her once happy life. And that was Baiken's quest.  
There was something that had puzzled her as of late. How had she survived the attack? Did that man spare her, left her alive so she could remember everyday the horror of losing everything she had? No. That wasn't it. Someone had saved her, but whom? She would have to wait for these answers, and hope her lost memories would come back to life.  
Baiken ordered a glass of wine, to help forget her tragic past. As she drank, a tall figure came to sit on the stool next to her. It was that fool who thought he had a chance at ever being a real fighter. Axl Low. She ignored him as he asked for a bottle of regular, generic beer. No taste at all. They both sat there, not saying a word. Until he spoke.  
"Hey Baiken. Haven't seen you in a while. How's your revenge going?" he asked.  
"Shut up. It's none of your business." She replied with resentment. Baiken did not want to be reminded of her tragedy, and this fool wasn't making things easier.  
"Don't be upset about it," said Axl. He took some time to stare at her for a moment. "Do you want to talk about it?" This was it. He being near her was enough to make her angry, and now he wanted to talk about it?  
"Talk about!? How could an idiot like you ever understand the way I feel?! Get the hell out of my sight!" yelled Baiken. Everyone at the bar began to stare at her making her feel both angry and embarrassed. Axl, however, was feeling a very different emotion. He looked hurt, almost saddened, something not many had ever seen before, far from his cheerful demeanor. He stood up and walked away.  
"You know, you're not the only one with problems of their own. Seeya." He then walked out the door, leaving behind an angry and humiliated Baiken.  
Axl walked out of the bar, feeling both sad and angry at himself. Ever since he had first traveled through time, he had lived a very lonely life, the closest thing to a friend being Sol, and he was hardly what some consider friendly. He missed the 21st century, before the gears, and before the chaos, but most of all he missed Megumi. He often wondered if he could ever find his way back, and that's why he had to find a way to get back to the past.  
He decided to take a detour through an alley. All he had wanted to do was help Baiken through her pain, but then she had just burst at him. Axl did know what it what it felt like to lose it all, but he had a chance to get it back, while she didn't. If only he could help. That was the only thing else he needed to do before he returned to the past. Axl felt he needed to help others cope through the pain of the war with the gears. But sometimes he doubted his power.  
Further up the alley, he felt a strange tingle, a sudden chill of energy that seemed to whip up the air and his hair with it. He knew what was happening. The time portal. He turned around to see the familiar wormhole, ready to suck him into another time. Axl tried to run, but as usual, its strong vacuum pulled him in, and he fell through time and space into his undesired destination.  
Axl fell to the ground as the portal closed. He sat up and was horrified at what he saw next. It was a city being demolished by gears, bodies lying on the ground, lifeless. He ran to the safety of the ruin of a destroyed building.  
"Of all of the places to be, why here?" he said to himself. Axl laid low for awhile, not wanting to draw attention.  
Suddenly, a shrill cry could be heard. He couldn't just sit around and do nothing. Axl got up and ran to the source of the scream. He turned a corner to see a young girl being surrounded by gears. It looked like she had fainted. Axl had to act fast. He threw one of his chained kamas at the head of one of the gears, slicing it off. This drew the attention of the others. Axl flung his kamas into the shoulders of another while kicking one in the chest. He decided to use his trump card to take care of the rest. He ran off in another direction, so the young girl would not be caught in the blast. He stopped running and got into his ready stance, waiting for the gears to get close enough. Then when the first gear nearly reached him, he cried "Hyakue Renshou!" Axl's body was surrounded by a bright orange ball of flame, incinerating the gear. He then threw his kama at the other ones, burning them to ashes as well.  
"Humph, piece of cake." Axl ran back to where the girl lay, and it frightened him to see that her arm and eye had been torn off. "Wait, her arm and eye are missing? Is this Baiken?" The girl moaned in pain. "Argh, I've got to save her!" Axl scooped the young Baiken in his arms, carrying her away from the carnage. He ran until he came to the edge of a forest, then entered and soon found a small cottage. It's owners were probably killed by those monsters he thought.  
He opened the door, being as careful as he could with the unconscious future samurai. He laid her on a bed, and noticed that her wounds were flowing freely. "Don't worry little gal, Axl's here." He explored the house until he found some first aid equipment. He came back and used some anti- infecting spray and before bandaging up Baikens wounds. There were a lot of cuts, and it took up half the bandages to seal the place where her arm was torn off. He ran all out when he noticed one last cut on her head. Axl got an idea, and undid his bandanna and tied it around her forehead.  
Axl waited for a few hours, hoping Baiken would be okay. "You look kind of cute when you're asleep, ya know?" he said more to himself then to her. It was strange, but she almost reminded him of the way Megumi slept. Axl shook his head. Why would she remind me of Megumi? He thought. Axl studied the young Baikens face for a few moments. Do I.have feelings for her?  
Baiken then began to stir from her deep slumber. Axl was startled and went next to the bed to see how she was. "Baiken, wake up, are you okay?" Baiken opened her one undamaged eye to look into Axl's smiling face.  
"Who are you? She asked in a faint voice.  
"I'm Axl, Axl Low, and I'm glad you're alright. You can keep that bandanna on your head." He said, pointing to his former headgear.  
"You saved me didn't you, thanks." Said Baiken. They stared into each others eyes for a moment before Baiken fell back to sleep. Axl smiled at how cute she seemed. "Sleep tight kid." Just then he felt the electric chill once more, and saw another time portal opening. "Ah crap, not again. I can't leave Baiken alone like this." He grabbed the bed in hopes of not being pulled in, but then he saw that the vortex was starting to pull the sleeping Baiken in. Axl only had a second to think.  
"What should I do? If I leave Baiken like this she may not recover, but I can't let her get pulled in, or we may end up in an even worse place, and if I try to help her, We'll both be pulled in, and I can't let that happen. I'll have to go in myself." Axl took one last look at the young, sleeping Baiken. "Seeya later, kid." He then let go and was pulled into the time vortex.  
When he landed on the other side, he was back in the alley in Beijing. "That was weird," he said half dazed. "I wonder if Baiken would remember any of that. Nah, if she did she wouldn't have freaked out on me." He sighed and started walking back onto the sidewalk.  
  
Baiken left the bar, still feeling as bitter as when she entered. She couldn't forget what had happened those many years ago because of that idiot. As she walked, she took out from her traveling pack the one thing left behind from her bloody past; a large, worn out red cloth. It had been with her since she had come conscious from the gears attack. Whenever she looked at it, it always reminded her of a big warm smile.  
As she stared at it, she accidentally walked into another pedestrian, both being knocked down. "Hey watch where you're going!" she shouted. She looked up to see that it was Axl, but he seemed different. Instead of having that hurt look on his face, he put on a warm, friendly smile.  
"What's up Baiken?" he said as he got up. It was as if he was glad to see her. Axl put out his hand so he could pull Baiken to her feet. Naturally, she would have smacked it away, but something stopped her. For some reason she felt that she could trust him, and both were surprised when Baiken grabbed his hand and let him lift her up.  
She didn't say anything, but stared at Axl for a moment before noticing that Axl's usual red bandanna was not there. In all the times she had seen him, she had never seen him without it. This caused a lost memory to stir, and she remembered whose face that smile had belonged to. "I'm Axl, Axl Low, and I'm glad you're alright. You can keep that bandanna on your head." Those words seemed to ring clearly in her mind after being drowned by those horrible memories of her parent's murder by the gears. Axl was the one who had saved her, her last hope when all had been lost. Axl stared back at her and knew that she had finally recalled the memory of her lost past.  
"You remember what happened, don't you?" he said after minutes of silence. The other people n the sidewalk simply ignored the two strange people and walked around them, not knowing the importance of the two's meeting.  
"How could you have done that? That was years ago, and you don't look any older then you did then." Said Baiken.  
"Don't you know? I travel through time, well, by accident really. I've been trying to find a way back to my own time. For me, I just saved you from those gears about a day ago." Said Axl. "You might say that I've lost everything that I once had, like you have." Baiken stared at him, thinking about how cruel she had treated him since they first met, and now it turns out that he was the one who had protected her. He had always tried to be nice to her, to be her companion, but she had always pushed him away. He was like her; both had lost what was special to them. Baiken felt like crying.  
"I'm sorry for being so hostile to you all this time." She said as she looked at the ground. What happened next was something that no one had ever done since she was only a child, before she lost it all, her arm, her eye, and her loved ones. Axl hugged her.  
"I understand. It's alright. I'll be there for you when you need someone." He said as he continued to embrace her. Baiken didn't try to resist. It felt good to be held, to be cared for. She tilted her head up to look into Axl's deep blue eyes. "Thank you for being there." She said. She smiled out of happiness that someone truly cared for her wellbeing. She closed her eye and gave Axl a soft kiss on the cheek. This startled him, but only for a moment, and soon closed his eyes and let himself sink into Baikens warn grip as the people of Beijing went inside their homes and the evening wore on.  
They stayed like that for what seemed eternity.  
"Uh, Baiken, can I have my bandanna back?"  
  
To be continued (I hope).  
  
I hope you liked it. It seems a little rushed, but I hope people still like it enough to Review it. I will try to continue this on write another Axl fic, maybe about his past, but only if you, the reader, put in a good word for me, so review or you'll make me angry, and you wouldn't like me when I'm angry! (Turns into some giant monstrous hulking green gear creature and rampages San Francisco). 


	2. A New Kind of Gear

I'm back with another chapter. Wasn't sure how I'd continue this, but this one's about Axl trying to find That Man again to find the answers he seeks. He finds something that could help him understand his true past. By the way, I don't own Guilty gear.Huh? (Is handed a note) It's from Daisuke Ishiwatari! It says he's going to give me all the rights to the guilty gear franchise! I'll be rich! (Looks at the bottom to see that it's just a prank from Axl Gear's notorious counterpart, Psycho Silver) Ah damn it!  
  
Mystery  
Axl was out walking the streets of jolly ol' England one day trying to pass the time. His quest to find "That Man" had been going slowly lately. After the event he had with Baiken, they had gone their separate ways. He had gotten a lift from Johnny on the Mayship. Axl was headed for America to see what information he could find about the man's whereabouts. They had stopped in his native country to refuel. It would take them awhile because gasoline hadn't been used in years, so Johnny had to find a place it was still being sold.  
Anyway, Axl was walking along the street when he took a moment to reflect on past events. His meeting with the man had not helped in fulfilling his goal, but instead aroused more questioned. Who was this Raven? What did he have to do with Axl? Axl had to seek out the man once more, hoping that he could find a way to create a time rift to his own time from Raven.  
As he was thinking, he did not notice the person who was in front of him. Axl walked right into them, causing both of them to stumble and fall.  
"Whoops, sorry about bud, huh?" Axl looked up to see that he had walked into Dizzy. She was wearing the Jellyfish pirate uniform that she had become accustomed to and had fallen on her but.  
"Oh, it's alright Mr. Axl. I should have been looking were I was going." She said.  
"Nah, it's both our fault, don't feel bad." he said as he helped her up. Axl had spent some time with Dizzy over the course of his flight. He thought she was a very sweet girl, a bit shy at times though and was always sorry about something, but still a good person to be with. He found it hard to believe that Dizzy could be a gear, but a lot of things were possible nowadays. Dizzy was also starting to warm up to Axl. There was something about him that seemed very familiar about him, but she couldn't say what. She felt that he could be trusted though, and was glad to have another friend.  
"Hey, is the ship ready yet? This waiting around is getting pretty boring." Said Axl.  
"Oh, yes, I came hear to tell you that we're ready to go." said Dizzy. They walked back to the secluded airport where the Mayship had landed. Johnny was waiting for them on the landing pad.  
"Hey, Axl, ya ready?" said Johnny.  
"Ya, let's go already. I've seen enough of this place already."  
"Alright, hop on, and oh ya, I almost forgot. We've picked up a new passenger." Johnny pointed to a lone figure leaning on the hull of the Mayship. Axl looked and was shocked to see that it was Baiken. The lat he had seen her was in China, after what had happened.  
"B-Baiken? What are you doing here?" asked Axl.  
"Tch, didn't think I'd see you again. I'm here because I heard there was an active gear around here, but I haven't seen any sign of it." Said Baiken. Dizzy went very tense at hearing this. She had been cautious to hide her tail and wings, but Dizzy was still afraid her cover would be blown. Baiken noticed this and said "Don't worry, I only kill the evil gears, but don't expect me to be a nice guy."  
"You, you know I'm a gear?" asked Dizzy.  
"I told her," said Johnny. "I thought that if I told her before it was too late we could avoid any fights."  
"Anyway," said Baiken "I need to get to America to find what I can about the man. Johnny said he'd give me a lift."  
"Oh, I get it, you missed me huh? I don't blame ya," said Axl.  
"What do you mean?" asked Baiken?  
"Whoops," said Johnny "I forgot to mention. Baiken, Axl's coming with us. Axl, what were you talking about? Did something happen between you two?"  
"Shut up, that's none of you business!" said Baiken  
"Alright, alright, I won't go into it. Let's get going already." They boarded the Mayship just seconds before taking off. May came rushing up to Johnny and gave him a back breaking bear hug. "Oh Johnny, I missed you so much."  
"May, I was only gone for a few hours."  
"I know, but I can't stand to be without you. Hey who's this?" said May, pointing Baiken.  
"May, remember Baiken? She's coming with us the rest of the way." Said Johnny. May gave Baiken a cold stare. "You better stay away from my Johnny, or else!"  
"Relax, he's not even my type." Said Baiken  
"So, what is your type?" asked Axl.  
"That's for me to know." She said.  
"I'm going to the deck. We'll take off in a few minutes. You two just make yourselves comfortable." Said Johnny as he walked off, May still clinging to his waist. "A little obsessive, isn't she? Like someone I know." Said Axl. Baiken just stared at him and walked off to one of the extra rooms on the ship. She was still as cold as ever. Axl had started to have feelings for Baiken after he had saved her from the gears in the past, but even after that moment the two of them had together, Axl knew that Baiken would never fall for a guy like him. But he could still dream, and there was always the chance he could go back home to Megumi.  
They had just taken flight when all of the crew had gotten onboard, and it was lunchtime, so Axl walked to the cafeteria to get something to eat and wait until they got to the U.S. He got himself a ham sandwich and sat himself down at a vacant seat. April and some girls sat at the same table and started converse amongst themselves. Then April asked "Mr. Axl, why are you going to the U.S. again?"  
"I need to find some guy who I think can get me back to the twentieth century."  
"Huh? What are you talking about? Are you from the past?"  
"Uh ya, you see, I've been time traveling, but I can't control it, so I need to find this guy who can help me get back."  
"But if you leave, won't you miss your friends from this time though?"  
".I've never thought of that, I guess-" But before he could finish, there was a loud explosion coming from a part of the ship that knocked everyone from their seats. As Axl got up, he heard Johnny's voice on the intercom.  
"Axl, Baiken, get your buts on deck, there's a gear attacking the ship. Hurry up." Axl was confused. How could a gear possibly be attacking the ship? It couldn't have snuck on board; most weren't intelligent enough for something like that. So how? He hurried down one of the hallways and came to an intersection to see Baiken coming down another hallway.  
"Hey!" said Baiken. "Let's move. We can't let that monster crash this ship. We've got to protect the rest of the crew." Axl paused for a moment to reflect on what she had said. Had she just shown concern for the wellbeing of the Jellyfish Pirates? That was not something a ruthless gear maiming warrior like Baiken would say. He expected something different, like, say, how she would destroy another one of those demons for the crimes they committed, like the cruel murdering of her family. Baiken turned to face Axl.  
"What are you waiting for? We've got to kill that abomination." Axl nodded and they continued onward. They both finally reached to hatch to the deck.  
"Ladies first." Said Axl as Baiken shoved him out of the way. What they saw next they didn't expect. Johnny and May were fighting what looked like a giant mutated red dragon, except it seemed to have many deformities, such as having a lot more teeth than a normal dragon and two extra arms and two pairs of bat wings that seemed to be feathered rather than furred. One thing very distinctive, though, was that it seemed to have high-tech armor fused into it's skin, and on it's head was a triangular slab of metal bolted onto it's forehead with the flaming symbol of the Gears imprinted on it.  
Johnny looked exhausted, and was relieved to see that Axl and Baiken had shown up.  
"You finally got here. This thing is tough, it just won't go down." Said Johnny.  
"Yeah," said May. "We've tried all of our best techniques but it just shrugs them off like we're nothing. Baiken, have you ever seen a gear like this one?" Baiken took a good look at the monstrosity.  
"No," she said "I've never seen this kind of gear before. As a matter of fact, I've never even known of a gear that could fly, other than that Dizzy girl."  
"It doesn't matter what it is," Axl said "we've got to get rid of it one way or another." The gear turned it's long reptilian neck to face Axl and Baiken, than gave a loud snort then a roar as it unhinged it's jaw like a snake about to swallow a meal that's to large for it's head. An acid green glow could be seen from inside its throat as a low humming sound began to rise in volume. Johnny and May knew what it was; they had seen it before when Dizzy was under her dark wing Necro's control. To Baiken, this was the same as when she had seen news footage of Justice before the Gears had taken her home and family away. Axl was the only one who didn't realize what was going on, then he remembered a time when Dizzy had fought him, and then it hit him. The mutant gear was going to use the attack that only Justice had mastered and Dizzy was trying to control. The Gamma Ray.  
  
Well, another chapter is up. I could've written more, but I'm lazy and need more info, like is Justice's super attack. It's Gamma Ray, right? Anyway, I've got something going in my head that I need to develop, so in the meantime, please Review, or suffer the consequences. Flames are welcome, that is, unless you don't want any nasty surprises. Criticism is also welcome, without the nasty surprises though. 


	3. Falling from the Heavans

Alright, I'm back again, and since I've gotten such good reviews, I'm starting this chapter early. Some of you may be thinking what the hell the mutated Dragon gear thing is. Don't worry, It'll all be explained in the next few chapters.  
  
Anyway, Guilty Gear belongs to Daisuke Ishiwatari and not me. By the way, I own Psycho Silver, so don't even think of trying to steal him, although it's been hard to control him. He keeps jumping around different anime universes and trying to go out with Aisha from Outlaw Star. Enough of my rambling just read the dang fic.  
  
Axl barley missed the dragon gear's gamma ray as he ducked out of its line of fire. The energy wave looked like the one Dizzy used, except it was an acid green color. The attack damaged only some of the May Ship and went speeding off into the clouds. The mutant then turned its head towards May and Johnny and made a swipe at them with one of its four arms. Johnny grabbed May and pulled her to the floor as the mutant dragon's claws went sailing just inches above their heads.  
"Johnny, you saved me," said May, who was blushing and had stars in her eyes because her savior was lying right on top of her.  
"May, this isn't the time for romantics." Said Johnny as he pulled May to her feet. In the time that the fight had been going on, Dizzy was silently waiting in her room for it to end. Johnny had told her to stay in there because he was afraid that she would be hurt if she tried to fight the monster gear. She wondered how Testament could even think that Johnny was nothing but a lowly human who would only cause her harm. Sometimes Dizzy wished that he would just get over his hate of humans. Now that Johnny and May were risking their lives to protect her and all the other crew members, she felt that it was time for her to help them. Dizzy ran to the deck hatch and climbed out to see the monstrosity that had been attacking the ship.  
"Dizzy, what are you doing here!" yelled Johnny "I told you not to come up here."  
"I wanted to help!" Dizzy said. At the sound of her voice the dragon gear looked at her and suddenly began to scream with a terrifying ferocity. It then spread its four feathered bat wings and took flight, shooting small energy bombs at them.  
"Hey Johnny!" yelled Axl over the noise. "Do you think that that mutant dragon gear was able to attack us because it was able to fly up here?"  
"That may be so, but." said Johnny.  
"But there aren't any gears that have the ability to take flight." Finished Baiken. Baiken had been hunting and killing gears for most of her life, and she had never once encountered a gear that could fly, except maybe Dizzy, but she had never actually seen her in the air.  
"The ships cannons were shut down during one of the explosions, so we can't hit it while it's in the air," Said May.  
"Wait," said Johnny. "Dizzy, maybe you can take it down with one of your own attacks."  
"But Johnny, I don't want to hurt it." Protested Dizzy. Even though that thing must have been the ugliest thing she had ever seen, she still couldn't hurt another living creature.  
"Dizzy, you don't have to kill it, only knock it out." Said May.  
"Alright then," said Dizzy. She crossed her arms and tried to summon her blue guardian wing called Undine. Her lighter wing transformed into the image of a beautiful young woman, while still having to same light blue color. Undine threw out her hand and a blue, electrified arrow shot out at the rampaging dragon gear in the sky. It whistled through the air and pierced two of its black feathered bat wings. It roared in tremendous pain as it slowly drifted towards the earth.  
"Oh my, I didn't mean to hurt it so much!" cried Dizzy. Just as the dragon gear was falling, though, the green acid glow of its gamma ray started to power up. It was going to make one last assault before going down.  
"No, please don't!" cried Dizzy. Axl looked at Dizzy to see that she was holding her head in pain. May ran to help her but Dizzy stopped her.  
"Don't come near me or I may end up hurting you!" Dizzy said. Her other wing, the dark green one known as Necro, took the form of a grim reaper, and out of his cloaked sleeve his twisted skeleton hand shot out and transformed into a giant wolf's head, with an incredibly huge mouth that was begging to gather power for its own gamma ray. Both the dragon gear and Necro fired their gamma rays at the same time. Each collided with the other, and there seemed to be a tug of war over which attack would overcome. Everyone else was in awe over the might of the power being exerted.  
Axl then came to his senses and realized that there was a violent reaction occurring where the two rays were hitting each other. Unless one side gave up, there would be a huge explosion.  
"Everybody takes cover!" he yelled as he motioned for them to get into the ship.  
"What about Dizzy!? We can't just leave her!" yelled May.  
"May I don't think there's much we can do for her," said Johnny as he pulled May down into the hatch. Axl was just about to go down after them when he saw that Baiken was still watching the brilliant spectacle. Whether it was fear or not, Axl couldn't tell. He called out to her, but she didn't seem to hear him. A bright orange energy was starting to form between to two gamma rays, and it wasn't long before it would explode.  
"Damn it Baiken," Axl swore under his breath as he made a running dash at Baiken and picked her up and carried her back to the hatch. Baiken had now come back to her senses and realized what was going on.  
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Put me down!" she said.  
"And let you get fried to a crisp? I'm not going to let that happen." Said Axl. He just managed to get himself and Baiken into the safety of the ship and closed the hatch before the energy of the two attacks finally blew.  
"Johnny," April's voice came in over the intercom. "All main engines have been blown; we're going to make a crash landing on the shoreline." The May Ship had taken major damage and was crashing to the ground along with the mutant dragon gear. The explosion had put it into unconsciousness, and it had a slim chance of surviving the crash. As for dizzy, she had managed to stay conscious and managed to get to the hatch. When she opened it and got safely inside, the others were relieved.  
"Dizzy, you're okay! I was so worried." Cried May.  
"Are you alright?" asked Johnny.  
"Yes, I'm fine," she said. "But are you hurt."  
"Nah, we're fine," said Johnny. "Just a few scrapes and bruises."  
"Johnny," April's voice was heard once more. "We're going to hit the shore in just in just fifteen seconds. Ten, nine, eight." Everyone waited in suspense for the impact. "seven, six, five."  
"Everyone get ready!" said Johnny.  
"four, three, two." Everyone on the ship held on to something. Of course, May held on to Johnny. "one." Axl grabbed onto a table with one hand and he grabbed Baiken's with the other. She was about to protest when the ship finally hit the shoreline. The whole place shook, and the lights went out. It seemed like hours before it finally stopped and everything went quiet.  
  
When Axl awoke, he had a splitting headache and all he could see was darkness. He groped the floor trying to find his way out of the ship when he came across a body. He let his eyes adjust to find that it was Baiken.  
"Hey, Baiken, wake up." He said as he gently padded her face. She slowly sat up and opened her eye to survey what had happened. The crash had knocked everyone out, and one by one they all started to regain consciousness, all accept Dizzy that is. The fight before had drained her energy, and she would be out longer than anyone else.  
"Well, let's go see what the damage was." Said Johnny. "May, take care of Dizzy and make sure that everybody's alright."  
"Okay Johnny." May said as she picked up dizzy and went to check the rest of the crew.  
Axl, Johhny, and Baiken exited the Mayship to take a survey of the damage done during the crash. The hull had been torn open on one side, and an engine had blown, but what shocked them the most was seeing the body of the mutant dragon gear several meters from where the ship had crashed. They could hear it breathing heavily, indicating it was still alive, but it was on the brink of death.  
"Whoa, looks a lot less scary when it's not trying to kill me." Said Axl.  
"We must kill it, now." Said Baiken coldly as she began to unsheathe her sword. She had her weapon out and was about to plunge her katana into its skull when Axl's kasuri gama's chain stopped it just inches away from the gear's dark red skin. Baiken looked at Axl with fury in her eyes and a snarl on her face.  
"Why did you stop me? I have to kill it, or it will attack us again when it wakes up. I must destroy this monster and all of its kind!" she yelled.  
"But it's defenseless," Axl said. "Besides, it looks like it is going to die from the explosion anyway. Just let it rest in peace." Baiken reluctantly sheathed her katana, turned her back and began walking back to the ship.  
"Wow, I didn't think she'd listen." Johnny said in amazement.  
"Neither did me," Axl said. "But I think she has a soft spot for me."  
"You? You two are nothing alike. I find it very doubtful that Baiken would go for a guy like you. Besides, I think she likes Anji anyway." Said Johnny. "What makes you say that she has a soft spot for you?" Johnny gave an inquisitive glance.  
"It's sort of a long story," said Axl.  
"Maybe it's best we don't talk about that kind of thing in front of the girls." Said Johnny.  
"It's nothing like that you pervert!" yelled Axl in protest.  
"Sure it isn't." said Johnny with a sly smirk on his face. Axl breathed a heavy sigh.  
"Look, I'll tell you later. Let's just get the ship repaired."  
"Okay okay, let's get to work then. What about that giant carcass of a gear?"  
"Just let it die. I think that's all we can do for now." Said Axl. They both began to walk towards the Mayship when the heard a buzzing, flapping noise.  
"Hey, those sound like helicopters." Said Johnny. They looked into the sky to see dozens of helicopters coming towards them. A large vehicle with what looked like a giant sized metal box being pulled by it drove onto the beach where the crash site was. It was fallowed by several more army looking cars. Axl looked at the side of one of the cars and noticed several large black letters, spelling P.W.A.B.  
"P.W.A.B.? What the hell does that mean?" asked Axl.  
"It's the Post War Administration Bureau," Said Johnny with a serious tone in his voice. "They're here."  
  
Well, as you can see, there is going to be a deep plot to this after all. Please remember to review. My last chapter didn't get much response. Anyway, the next chapter will involve what the P.W.A.B. has to do with the mutant dragon gear. It all leads up to many secrets being revealed. I hope a lot of people like this fic, so I can keep writing. 


	4. Why do you Fight?

Okay, I'm finally putting up Chp. 4. I've been very lazy, and I apologize for the extremely long wait. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 4: Why do you Fight?

The P.W.A.B. vehicles surrounded the crash site, and many agents wearing dark suits and sunglasses came pilling out. Out of the large truck came agents dressed in bio-hazard suits who were heading for the dragon gear. Orders were being called out from all directions. One very tall muscular agent approached the two fighters.

"Are you Johnny Sfondi, of the Jellyfish Pirates?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me." Answered Johnny in a serious tone.

"I'm with the Post War Administration Bureau. Agent Mustopholese. I must ask that you leave the area immediately. We are here to retrieve the specimen that fell here, along with the two Japanese that are aboard you ship and the gear you know as Dizzy. It would also be beneficial if we retrieved the wreckage of your ship as well. If you quietly handover what we want, we can avoid any conflict."

"Oh and what if I refuse?" Johnny asked.

"Then we'll take them by force if necessary. I highly suggest you do as we say." Agent Mustapholese replied.

"Sorry, but we don't make deals with shady looking characters. Right Johnny?" said Axl.

"Right. You can take that freak of nature, but my ship and crew are off limits." Said Johnny as they both went into fighting stances. Agent M. Stared at them for a moment before saying "You've been warned." He turned his back and started walking back to his car. He got out a radio and set the frequency. He raised it to his mouth and spoke into it. "Go to plan B."

Just moments after these words were uttered, a hail of Robo-Ky's swept out from the large truck and began closing in on our heroes.

"Damn it!" shouted Axl, as he and Johnny began defending themselves and the crew from the onslaught of mechanical men. A few made it past them only to be cut down by the flash of Baiken's katana and the crushing blows of May's anchor.

"What happened?" asked Baiken.

"It looks like their trying to capture us by force." said Johnny.

"Well they'll have to do a lot better than that!" yelled May as she smashed one of the androids with a mighty swing. As they were fighting, they spotted more of the robots loading the dragon gear into the large truck.

"Think we should stop them?" said Axl as he countered a strike from one of the robots fake Thunderseal.

"Forget it," said Baiken. "We have our own skins to worry about." They fought on for what seemed like hours, as the endless stream of Robo-Ky's poured out. They were tiring, and although each one was easily defeated, the sheer number of them was taking its toll on the fighters. They were almost finished when they heard a great crash off to the left of the ship. All of them looked to see what had happened. There was a thick cloud of dust, making visibility impossible. Then, suddenly, a huge, lumbering figure came barreling through the dust, smashing the Robo-Kys as it went.

"SYSTEMSSHOWANABNORMALLYSTONGPOWERLEVEL, BZZT." Said one of the robots in its warped, electronic voice.

"WEDONOTHAVEENOUGHUNITS. WEMUSTRETREAT. GIGIGI." Said another. The Robo-Kys ran back to the vehicles they had come in and fled, along with the P.W.A.B. agents.

"Alright, just who are you?" asked May to the enormous figure. As the smoke and debris of the mangled robots cleared, they saw that it was none other than the loyal Zeppian soldier known as Potemkin.

"Well, it is a surprise to see you again." said Potemkin. "I see that you've been getting into more trouble, as usual."

"Relax," replied Johnny. "I can handle anything."

"That's right!" chirped May.

"I came because we were picking up readings of a UFO on radar at headquarters." Said Potemkin. "Normally something like this would be too small a task for me, but we detected extremely high energy reading coming from the object, so I was ordered to investigate it."

"You must mean that dragon-gear that attacked us." said Baiken.

"Dragon-gear?" said Potemkin, his face becoming more serious than usual.

"Ya," said Axl. "It attacked the ship, and caused us to crash."

"Where is it now?" said Potemkin.

"Those P.W.A.B. guys took it while we were fighting, and they can keep it!" exclaimed May.

"Hmmm. I'll have to report this to President Gabriel when I return to H.Q." said Potemkin.

"Uh, Potemkin, could you do us a favor?" asked Johnny. "You can plainly see that our ship is in no condition to fly, so I was wondering if you could get a few of your Zepp pals to repair our ship, since there's no one else who can."

"Well, Johnny, you are a wanted criminal," said Potemkin "but I suppose that I could just let it pass this once."

"Thanks buddy." Said Johhny, smiling.

"I'll call for a maintenance crew to come get your ship," said Potemkin. "And medics in case some of your crew has been injured."

"What are you guys going to do now?" asked May, her question directed at Axl and Baiken.

"_I_ am heading to the nearest town to get some information." said Baiken, turning away.

"What about you, Mr. Axl?" asked May.

"I guess I'll tag along with Baiken." said Axl.

"Humph, fine." said Baiken. "Just stay out of my way." And with that, Baiken ventured off into the woods, with Axl trailing closely behind.

Miles away, on a cliff facing the ocean, stood a lone figure, clad in red and white, covered with an old, tattered cloth he used as a cloak. He had a firm grip on his weapon, Fuuenken, as he stared out at the vast body of water that lay before him. This was Sol Badguy. "What do they want with Dizzy?" he thought, remembering the P.W.A.B. "What does _he _want with Dizzy." He thought thinking of 'That Man' and all the chaos that his minion I-no had caused. As he was pondering this, he suddenly felt a great surge of energy off in the distance to his left, down the shoreline. He jerked his head back to reality and looked in the direction it was coming from.

"That was Dizzy." He said. "And there's something else too." The power he felt came from Dizzy, but he could feel another power, very similar to that of a gear, but somehow warped and twisted. "What the hell's going on?" And with that said, he began his journey to find the source of the disturbance.

"Do you even know where you're going?" asked Axl as they continued to travel through the forest.

"Of course I do." said Baiken. The blonde British man had been constantly annoying her with questions like that. And she hated to admit it, but she really didn't know where they were going.

"Well, if we keep going in one direction, we're bound to hit something." said Axl as he gazed at the scenery. They had been walking for about an hour and had seen nothing but dense forest the since they began. They where traveling on a small dirt path, so it wasn't too difficult. There was a long silence between them for a few minutes before it was finally broken.

"So, are you really from the 20th century?" asked Baiken. This surprised Axl a bit, and it took him a second to answer.

"Yeah, I really am." He said.

"What's it like?" she asked.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain, but you could say that it was a lot like Zepp. There were cars, airplanes, fast food places, a lot more high tech you might say." Axl paused for a moment.

"Go on." Said Baiken, continuing to listen and walk at the same time.

"Well, there also weren't any Gears, I know that." He said

"Sounds like a nice place." She said.

"It wasn't always that good," Axl went on "There were a lot of conflicts between nations, and sometimes it was a dangerous place to be in." Axl frowned, thinking of his old life. "Sometimes mankind fought for no reason at all."

"So why do you want to return?" Baiken chimed in.

"Uh, well...." Axl began. "It's my home. All my friends and family are there. Not to mention a very special lady."

"Humph, is that why?" Baiken snorted. "For love? Give me a break."

"Isn't it worth risking your life for someone you love?"

"... I don't have anyone to love anymore."

They spent most of their walk in silence from then on. Not until the moon shone brightly in the night sky did the Englishman decide to break the silence.

"Hey, I'm beat, and we can't see anything. Let's take a break, like until morning."

"Sigh... fine. Let's start a fire." Said the pink haired samurai. They stopped in a clearing where there was enough room to start a fire. Axl went to gather dry wood while Baiken made a circle in the ground with several large rocks. Axl returned with a huge pile of wood in his arms.

"Will we really need that much?" Baiken asked.

"You can never be too careful." Axl said smirking. He set the pile on the edge of the clearing and took out several dead branches and placed them in the circle. Baiken made a movement to start a flame when Axl interrupted.

"No no, let me get that." He spread his palm over the dead wood for a moment, then a tiny spark spitted out from the center, followed by larger, and fiercer ones, until the pile was set ablaze.

"I forgot you could do that." She said.

"I hope that's the only thing you've forgotten about me." They sat across from each other, occasionally throwing another branch into the blaze.

"Where did you learn to use fire magic?" Baiken asked.

"What? Oh, um......" Axl was taken by surprise. "I'm not exactly sure."

"Figures." She said.

"Well, I think it was back when I was a kid in the 20th century, learning to fend for myself. To be honest, it feels like I've always had that power ever since I was born."

"Since you were born?" Baiken asked, growing curious.

"Yeah," Axl continued "I can't explain it, but I always felt like I was different from all the other kids. Heh, guess I'm just gifted."

"I doubt it." Said the women.

"Well, it's getting late, so I'll see you in the morning. G'night." Axl stretched and yawned before lying on the cold ground with his back toward Baiken and the fire. He was asleep in a few moments. As he slept, Baiken continued to stare at him with her one eye.

_Who is this man? How could he have learned the art of magic at such a young age? _She thought to herself. _And how could he have known to use it before it was even discovered? Either he's lying, or he really is gifted._ And with those final thoughts, Baiken laid her body to rest and drifted into slumber.

That's it for this chapter. Once again, I'm very sorry for the long wait. I hope you all can forgive me. Expect I-no and Anji to make appearances in the next chapter (If I ever get around to writing it).


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